I would not melt it. Could increase the dough temp quickly. Instead I would rip off pieces, like tearing a ball of fresh mozzarella. I have mixed roll dough with lard or as they say Strutto in Italian.

I would not melt it. Could increase the dough temp quickly. Instead I would rip off pieces, like tearing a ball of fresh mozzarella. I have mixed roll dough with lard or as they say Strutto in Italian.

Say you have a 60% hydrated dough and use 2% melted lard and 2% salt, the lard represents 2/164 <= 1.2% of the total mass. I don't think you need to worry about it overheating the dough.

I think the lard can be used in either solid or liquid form and, as Craig mentioned as I was composing this post, in the amount it would be used (a few percent), I wouldn't expect the dough temperature to rise much because the lard was melted. At one time, Sbarro used lard to make its NY style dough. I read on the forum that Sbarro discontinued using lard in about 1987, and apparently in some stores the lard was replaced with butter. I don't recall reading whether the lard (or butter) was solid or liquid. Norma did a fair amount of experimentation with a NY style dough using a liquid lard (manteca). The thread in which she discussed her experiments, at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13668.0.html, makes for an interesting read. Apparently, the liquid form of lard, such as Norma used, has a more pronounced flavor impact on the finished crust. The solid deodorized lard commonly sold in supermarkets had a less pronounced effect on crust flavor. Tom Lehmann commented on this matter in his PMQ Think Tank post at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10010&p=69404&hilit=#p69366. At another PMQTT post, at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4034&p=22953&hilit=#p22953, Tom says the that the "plastic" type fats, which includes lard, can be added directly to the dry ingredients. If I were to select a lard to use today, it would be the more or less liquid type sold as Manteca in Hispanic markets.

at La Reina Mexican market close to my house they cook Carnitas in big pots and save the rendered fat to sell to the public, when I make certain Mexican recipes I use this pork rendered fat. I wonder if this would be a suitable manteca for NY style dough being that when they make Pork Carnitas they usually add ingredients in order to get the flavor they want. I think they use oranges, but its not really noticeable, the Carnitas are really good and you cant really pinpoint any type of ingredients they use, it just taste like yummy pork goodness.

at La Reina Mexican market close to my house they cook Carnitas in big pots and save the rendered fat to sell to the public, when I make certain Mexican recipes I use this pork rendered fat. I wonder if this would be a suitable manteca for NY style dough being that when they make Pork Carnitas they usually add ingredients in order to get the flavor they want. I think they use oranges, but its not really noticeable, the Carnitas are really good and you cant really pinpoint any type of ingredients they use, it just taste like yummy pork goodness.

Vince,

Having tried the regular solid supermarket lards and not seeing a big improvement, at least in the amounts I used, I think I would give the La Reina rendered fat a try. Maybe you can try both forms of lard and see if you can detect a difference.

I think I'm going to go with the La Reina manteca, it just sounds better and like I said it doesn't have a real strong flavor. it's crunch time for me though, I have to pick out a recipe from the NY style for this weekend it will be a first for me cause I'm still a newbie and I'm still trying to figure things out.

Manteca is Spanish for "lard". Since Hispanics have typically been big users of lard (and many still are), the producers make sure to put the word manteca on their packaging materials, usually in big letters. So, as best I can tell, the Armour product is the deodorized form that does not have a lot of flavor. The liquid manteca, which Norma used without incident, produces good crust flavor from what Norma and her taste testers reported.

Manteca is Spanish for "lard". Since Hispanics have typically been big users of lard (and many still are), the producers make sure to put the word manteca on their packaging materials, usually in big letters. So, as best I can tell, the Armour product is the deodorized form that does not have a lot of flavor. The liquid manteca, which Norma used without incident, produces good crust flavor from what Norma and her taste testers reported.

Peter

OK great, so all's we got to do now is figure out how to turn that light brown stuff solid. Norma....!!!???

I sure don't know how to make the manteca turn solid, but I will be watching this thread. I do have some Goya lard in my fridge, but I don't know what would happened if I tried that solid in a dough.

Norma

Well, you are quite the experimenter so I say what the heck; give it a go. Unless it is maybe Peter's "deodorized form"...that sure doesn't sound appetizing now does it; wonder how many folks have used that anyway?

Besides, you have a natural feel for pizza making Norma...you know what to try an not; wish I had your knack for dough making girl.

The manteca that my family and I have used since I was a kid is in the solid form, if left out at room temperature it is just like butter. I have never seen liquid manteca, but I'm going to the Mexican market and try to find it.

at La Reina Mexican market close to my house they cook Carnitas in big pots and save the rendered fat to sell to the public, when I make certain Mexican recipes I use this pork rendered fat. I wonder if this would be a suitable manteca for NY style dough being that when they make Pork Carnitas they usually add ingredients in order to get the flavor they want.

Vince,

Your rendered pork fat sounds good. Will be interested in how it makes a pizza taste. Good luck!

Well, you are quite the experimenter so I say what the heck; give it a go. Unless it is maybe Peter's "deodorized form"...that sure doesn't sound appetizing now does it; wonder how many folks have used that anyway?

Today, while I was at my local supermarket that caters mainly to Hispanics, I decided to check out all of the fats, both lards/mantecas and shortenings.

With respect to the lards/mantecas, the long and short of it is that there are two forms, one solid and one liquid. What differentiates the two is the use of hydrogenation of the fats, which solidifies them. The Armour brand is one of the solid forms. It comprises lard and hydrogenated lard. As one might expect, the usual suspects, like BHA and BHT, are added, supposedly to “protect flavor”.

I found two brands of the liquid lards/mantecas, the Chema brand (which I reported on before in another thread), and a house brand. The mantecas (labeled Manteca de Puerco) were in 28-ounce plastic containers. The description of the product was “Rendered pork skin fat”. BHA and BHT are also used but no hydrogenation. The fat itself actually comprises two parts, one that is fairly thick (yet still a liquid) and tan in color, and an oily, thinner reddish liquid on top. Volume-wise, I would say that the two fats were about equal. I decided to shake one of the containers to see if I could combine the two fats. A worker (a Hispanic woman) who was stocking shelves nearby saw me doing this and perhaps asked herself “ˇAy, caramba! What is this crazy Gringo doing to my beloved manteca?” But, she politely intervened and told me in broken English that if I microwaved the manteca it would become more liquid and blend more easily. I thanked her for the advice but I kept shaking the container until the two fats did finally combine, with the result being a mixture that was like a pancake batter but quite a bit thicker. It still had an overall tannish color. I thanked the worker again before she could summon a manager because of my molestation of their manteca, and exited stage right in the direction of the shortenings shelf.

With respect to the shortenings I looked at, I found one brand (Mrs. Tucker’s) that is made using meat fats and vegetable oils. I did not see the word hydrogenation but rather mono- and diglycerides, which are known emulsifiers. Preservatives were also listed on the label. I squeezed the package and it had a little give to it so maybe the product is not quite as solid as the lard/mantecas like the Armour product.

Hi Norma,I didn't get the manteca that I usually get, but the market that I went to today is just as good if not better, so I bought there manteca. I'm trying NY style for the first time in my WFO, making dough tonight for Saturday pizza.